Teen car racer tears up track at Petaluma Speedway

Will Fatu is years away from being able to drive on the streets legally, but he’s already racing adults three times his age at the Petaluma Speedway, going nearly 70 mph and bumping and grinding with the big boys on the dirt track.

The Santa Rosa Middle Schooler, who became a teenager just three weeks ago, has already risen through the ranks of amateur racing and has his sights set on being a NASCAR champion one day.

The future looks bright for Fatu, who races under the Local Boi Racing label.

In 2014, he was declared Track Champion at Kinsmen Kart Club in Dixon and last year, moved to dirt oval outlaw 250 kart racing at Dixon Speedway. He ended the season as Rookie of the Year, second in points.

Earlier this month, he finished second in his first mini stocks race at the Petaluma Speedway, his first competition in a full-size car, rather than the kid-sized go-karts and outlaws.

“It’s really fun to go fast and be in control of something,” Fatu said. “I guess I just like having a gas pedal and a motor.”

Race car driving isn’t for the faint of heart, nor is it a solitary pursuit. Fatu’s father, Richard, serves as chief mechanic and coach, while mom, Sairah, is the lead marketer and promoter. Little sister Natalie is head cheerleader.

The Fatu family hobby started about four years ago with outings at Driven Raceway in Rohnert Park, where Will began racing the Italian-built electric go-karts that can reach speeds up to 45 mph on the indoor track.

“After a while, my dad said, ‘Why are we wasting money here? Let’s buy a new one,’” Fatu said.

They bought an admittedly “cruddy” go-kart online and raced it around their neighborhood and other places.

“Then my dad was like, “We might as well buy a better one. You’re getting pretty good,’” he said. “Mom had to say OK on that one. My mom finally said yes and we got a brand new kart.”

Soon, the family was piling gear into a trailer and heading out of town for weekend go-kart races at the Dixon Speedway outdoor track.

“That was even funner than the electric ones because you could actually feel the motor running,” Fatu said. “The fastest I went was 60. A couple of the tracks had really long straightaways.”

It was there that the reality of danger inherent in high velocity vehicles hit home.

As Fatu was trying to pass another driver coming into a turn, he bumped him and drove up the back of the other kid’s car. Fatu then went over the other car and flipped, leaving him on his hands and knees on the infield.

Richard Fatu sprinted out to the scene and found his boy injured but undaunted.

“I landed and broke my collar bone,” Will said. “I was right back in a car a month later.”

It wasn’t so easy for mom. Sairah Fatu was recording the race and captured the entire crash on video.

“I didn’t know it was Will until I saw Richard running out there like he was on air,” she said. “(Will) laid there for a while and then got up on his hands and knees. He laid on his side and wasn’t moving.

It was pretty scary.”

Despite the close call, Sairah said “it never even crossed my mind” to forbid her son from racing.

“He did get hurt, but he wasn’t scared. And he’s really good at racing,” she said. “He tried every other sport when he was younger and nothing fit. All of a sudden, racing fit. He’s naturally really good at it. It’s a path for him.”

As the Fatus quickly learned, racing is an expensive sport as well as potentially dangerous.

“When we first got set up, it was all our own money going into it,” Sairah Fatu said. “We couldn’t continue doing that, so I looked into getting sponsorships.”

She made hundreds of cold calls and sent out even more letters. Cattlemen’s Steakhouse and Les Schwab, among others, have agreed to sponsor Will, in exchange for the visibility of their ads on his No. 42 car.

Cattlemen’s bought the car Fatu drives and Les Schwab provides his tires.

Racing also takes a whole-family commitment. It is time-intensive, with carting all that gear around, trailering the car and tools, cleaning and fixing parts, storing it all.

Last year, Fatu raced outlaw sprint karts at Dixon and the family was spending all their weekends on the road, setting up for the race and then coming home and winding down.

“It would be all day Saturday and we’d just be wiped out all day Sunday,” Sairah Fatu said.

So when Dixon discontinued the outlaw karts races this year, the Fatus had a decision to make.

They decided Will was ready to try mini stocks, full-size cars set up with safety cages – which run at the much more convenient Petaluma Speedway on Saturday nights. Although they have bigger chassis, the 4-cylander mini stocks are less powerful than the light and swift karts.

The Fatus bought the body of an old Celica that had been used as a racecar five or six years ago and Richard Fatu outfitted it for his son to race in.

“It didn’t even have a motor,” Will Fatu said.

Richard installed a drive train, transmission and engine, “pretty much everything,” Sairah said.

Some of Fatu’s passion clearly comes from his dad. When he was his son’s age, Richard Fatu saved his pennies for three years to buy his first car, and he’d grown up with a grandfather who had a love of cars.

For Richard, Will’s racing has been a bonding experience with his son. The Fatus’ younger daughter also tags along to races, rooting for her big brother.

Petaluma Speedway promoter Rick Faeth said although Fatu is younger than most mini stock racers, he has shown himself to be more mature than his age might indicate.

“Racing is a young person’s sport,” he said. “For the layman, 13 may sound young, and it is, but he didn’t just walk off the street and into a mini stock. He won championship in outlaw karts.

In fact, even younger racers have competed – and in more powerful and faster cars than the mini stocks.

Mini stocks typically top out at about 70 mph and can complete one lap of the dirt oval in just under 20 seconds. Winged sprints can whip around the same track in 12 seconds at 112 mph.

In his first 20-lap mini stock race April 2, Fatu placed second, with a best-lap time of 19.89 seconds and top speed of 67.86 mph. He runs again on April 30.

“Age is a sensitive issue,” Faeth acknowledged. “A lot of people who aren’t in the industry on a daily basis might ask why would a child be allowed to race. But the fact is, if he’s here, he’s probably been racing for several years.”

Young racers must present their resumes and be approved individually, Faeth said.

Fatu’s parents say the new teen has the focus and calmness of someone older – and Faeth agrees – so they’re not worried too much about him being overmatched on the track by more seasoned drivers.

As far as Will is concerned, he plans on continuing to build experience on the oval, working toward another important goal in three years when he turns 16.

“Yeah, I’m probably going to pass the driving test with flying colors,” he said.

You can reach Lori A. Carter at 521-5470 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @loriacarter.